East Coast Days and Memories. By the Author of "The
Re- creations of a Country Parson." (Longmans.)—This is one of the pleasantest books which Dr. Boyd has given us. Sometimes, perhaps, he is a little wanting in kindliness of expression. In the essay entitled "The Archbishop's Statue," for instance, he lays on the lash on various persons with no little energy. Perhaps the very stupid man on whom he pours such wrath might have been found to be very different if he had come to know him. Possibly in the next essay, "A Spoke in the Wheel," he is needlessly hard on the late Pope. When he writes, on the other hand, on such a theme as "Principal Tulloch," he is at his best. In "That Spot Once More," again, he will please every reader. The " spot " is "Addington Church and Churchyard." Dr. Boyd has a most gracious way of expressing his sympathy for what is venerable and good in the Anglican Church, while he is by no means blind to her faults. To read him, when he writes on some theme that introduces Anglican matters, produces the effect of finding one's country praised by a foreigner. Cum ta/is sis, utinam nosier esses ! is a wish that has often been suggested to readers on this side of the Border by what he writes. But it must not be forgotten that he has done a great deal of good to his own communion. There is no little proof of that in this volume.
Previous page
